World Equity Group Inc. Cuts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

World Equity Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 47.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,336 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 16,447 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.1% of World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,041,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth $36,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth $41,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth $55,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on GOOGL. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.90.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total value of $3,772,350.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,159,885 shares in the company, valued at $362,126,319.10. This represents a 1.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total transaction of $1,898,190.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at $59,741,643.48. The trade was a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,471,141 over the last quarter. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $172.49 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $165.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.22. The firm has a market cap of $2.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.90 and a 52 week high of $191.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.